As he deals with being No. 2 on the depth chart, Dolphins will learn plenty about Josh Rosen

Posted by Mike Florio on July 31, 2019, 11:45 AM EDT

AP

The fact that Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick has taken the early lead in the competition to become the Week One starter means a lot, but it also doesn’t mean very much at all.

It doesn’t mean much because, indeed, it’s early. It also doesn’t mean much because we’ve seen this movie before, throughout the many-years career of part-Fitzmagic, part-Fitztragic. When we expect nothing, he plays well. After he plays well enough to raise expectations, he stumbles off a cliff. Thus, regardless of how long Fitzpatrick holds the top spot, he’s destined to eventually surrender it.

That said, it means a lot because it gives the Dolphins a chance to monitor the manner in which Josh Rosen deals with disappointment. It’s one thing to watch him from afar as the Cardinals jerk him around before drafting Kyler Murray. It’s another thing to watch him up close as he processes failing to fulfill the presumption that he’ll be the starter.

It’s tempting to wonder whether the Dolphins are simply testing Rosen. At some point during a football season, he’s going to face real adversity. Why not throw some adversity in his face right out of the gates?

Whether planned or not, that’s where Rosen is. How he handles it will shed plenty of light on whether he’ll be the long-term answer in Miami.

He has work to do and I’m not sure he has the ability to do it. The list of negatives outweigh the positives. I do not want the Dolphins to be mired down with a choice in the next draft without enough information. Cut the BS. Fitz is a good guy but everybody knows he is not the future. Name Rosen the starter because we need to see what he has before the draft decision arrives. You learn nothing with Fitz going 3-7 followed by 2 good Rosen games and 2 bad ones. Play the kid from game 1 until it is apparent that he is or is not the future. Potential be damned, he needs actual no kidding big boy QB performances. I doubt fans want another project at QB.

The situation has become a contest between a veteran of eight teams and numerous offenses and a rookie who is on his third offense in two years; of course Fitzpatrick will be ahead since the Patriot offense is a blend of numerous offensive schemes. The problem lies with the 36 year old Fitzpatrick who is competing with Rosen instead of mentoring him as Josh McCown did with Sam Darnold in New York. By all accounts the gregarious Fitzpatrick has captured the locker room making a transition to the seemingly reserved Rosen much more difficult. Miami will not go to the playoffs this year so the only logical thing for the coaching staff to do was to install Rosen as the starter and Fitzpatrick as his teacher. Flores short sightedness is a grievous error that Miami will pay for next year in wasting a first round draft pick. The two or three extra wins will translate into a wasted season for the Dolphins. Rosen will be jettisoned; Fitzpatrick will again assume the role of competitor to the new rookie QB. Idiotic decision, but hey! It’s Miami!

This year will be a paradigm shift for the fate of the Dolphins going forward. Either Josh Rosen proves he has top 10 talent and can be a great quarterback for a decade plus; or he doesn’t and the Dolphins bottom out and have a shot at Tua or Herbert next year.

Either way I feel this is the year the Dolphins plant the seeds for future success. It also coincides with the last few years of the Brady reign, and the start of the Darnold-Allen-DolphinX era.

With the worst offensive line in the NFL you do not throw Rosen to the wolves until you’re positive he’s completely comfortable with the system and Fitz fails multiple times. There’s no point. The dolphins won’t be relevant until they have a few successful drafts

“At some point during a football season, he’s going to face real adversity. Why not throw some adversity in his face right out of the gates?”

What he didn’t face adversity behind the revolving door AZ line last year?

“It also coincides with the last few years of the Brady reign, and the start of the Darnold-Allen-DolphinX era.”

I think its funny people think the Pats won’t find another good or excellent QB after Brady retires. There’s only one Brady of course, but quite a few teams have drafted good QBs the last few years. Why do you think the Pats won’t?

Don’t rush the kid… Fitz will be in a game where he will throw 3 int’s and Rosen will take over. We will see if he has learned anything being behind Fitz and what the future holds. If not, then we will be drafting another QB next year… IMHO>

It’s tempting to wonder whether the Dolphins are simply testing Rosen. At some point during a football season, he’s going to face real adversity. Why not throw some adversity in his face right out of the gates?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Because he’s young and needs training. You don’t overload him withe leadershp responsibilies until he understands the offense and is proficient with it. Its simple management — you teach people how to do their job first.

Has anyone even mentioned that maybe Flores (like the pats) is not going to show his hand? Especially this early in the game. I’m sure he’s evaluating the entire situation and since the media likes to blow things up, this is heaven for them.

Stop worrying about why the Cards jettison him out of AZ, we are talking about the Cardinals. They hired a coach who was terrible in college, but he was in love with the QB from OU. A blind man saw this coming…. At the end of training camp and the start of the season Rosen will be the starting QB for Miami, and if he fails in the first four games, Fitz will play out the season and we will be looking for a QB in the draft. If he wins and play good football, then we might have our QB of the future and we can use the draft capital we have to continue to infuse the team with youth and talent.